for me here in ME I don't think it has even started. Need to thaw the ground around the trees a little before we get a good run. On the other side at this time last year we were a week from almost being done. Had yellow sap run last week of March, and started pulling taps. Looking forward to a monster season in the next month. Sap hauler is antsy. Hope everyones season is long.
best outdoor syrup made in Maine...... loosing that title as we are moving indoors to a 12x16 sugar shack with a new to us 2x6 .
Making syrup.
http://s724.photobucket.com/albums/ww248/TapME/
It has been slow here in NH so far. I was expecting some better runs than we had this past week. Now it is cold and snowing and doesn't look like ideal sap run weather for next week. I have made alot of syrup in years when we haven't had much snow and have made little syrup in years when there was alot of it. We will know how it all turns out in a couple of weeks.
Russ
Russ
"Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!
1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
Four chainsaws and no chickens!
I've already "packed it in" for this year, trying to clean my buckets in my "spare time" and put them away for next year. The daffodils and hyacinths are blooming here and I am trying to catch up on my estimates for the coming summer. The housing market may have slowed here, but the remodel market is jumping, and I am already planning jobs for October and November.
Anyway, I thought last year was a better run for us in Kentucky. I was a little disappointed with sap flow this year and it never really got to a good tipping point with the weather - either too cold or too warm. Snow in Kentucky that stays more than three days is a rarity, so I cannot offer any thoughts on snow pack and frost depth contributing to sap flow. I think I may tap earlier next year, perhaps a week or two earlier depending on weather in order to get an 8 week season. Good luck to you guys.
Andrew
I have had the worst year since since I have been making syrup (only 5 years). I tap trees in Danbury, New Milford, Roxbury, Litchfield and Sharon. There is about and hour difference between the southern trees in Danbury and the Northern trees in Sharon. The southern trees have been just slighty below normal while everything north has been almost dry. Out of 150 taps I have only gotten 288 gallons of sap. The past few years have been below average but in the past I have had about 1000 gallons for the year. I'm hoping this is all because the ground is still very cold and frozen??? I'm still waiting for those big runs where I can't keep up with it. Hopefully the season is just a little late, however we are running out of time, I usally pull my taps around the first weekend of April. Maybe this year we can squeeze in another weekor two. However this latest snowfall (14") isn't going to help the ground thaw at all. My plan is to wait and not pull my taps until I'm 100% sure it's over. There is way too much setup and cleanup to call it quits now. I have never had this much time for other things during maple season.
Don't get to discouraged yet, you may make a banner crop in 2 to 3 weeks.
Brandon
CDL dealer for All of West Virginia & Virginia
3x10 CDL Deluxe oil fired
Kubota M7040 4x4 Tractor w/ 1153 Loader hauling sap
2,400+ taps on 3/16 CDL natural vacuum on 9 properties
24x56 sugarhouse
CDL 1,000 2 post RO
WEBSITE: http://danielsmaple.com
2007 Season
Anyone ever made syrup in June before?
1,200 taps on USFS land, 3x8 King w/Steamaway. Lapierre RO.
Not June ,but I did hear of a old timer that made it in May!
Last year was the first year I kept records for syrup production, and it occurred to me that this year was a bad year, compared to last year. Last year, in only two weeks of tapping and boiling, we made 1.5 pints per tap. THis year, with a seven week season, we made only 1 pint per tap. If I had left my taps in for seven weeks last year, I would have probaby made 1.5 quarts per tap. THis year was a BAD year, and I hope you guys up North have a better year than I did. Looking forward to next year already, if I can only get my buckets clean. I dislike clean up, but it needs to be done.
Andrew
The season got off to a slow start here this year. We didn't have much of aflow in feb, but last week we had a marathon run. It ran day and night for 5 days except for one night it stopped. Right now we have about half of what we made last year.It ran some today,and tomorrow looks like a good day. If we have 2 or 3 more weeks with a few more good runs it will be a good year.
Andyp
This story was in my local paper over the weekend, front page sunday. It is very interesting for producers in CT. If you have a spare ten minutes it is worth the time, even if you don't live in CT.
http://www.newstimeslive.com//story....034656&email=1
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